It's hard to imagine a more perfect evening for Tony:
- Spurs win.
- He played an awesome game.
- He broke Avery's passing record.
- He broke this record with an assist to Timmy.
TP is having a great year, he fully deserves to be an all star and he is, by far, the main reason why Spurs have a good record this year. Huge props to him.
Indeed. He is doing all this without a backup and is playing long game after long game showing little fatigue. His decision-making is flawless (zero turnovers today) and his reading of the opposition's offense, passing lanes has also been very disruptive.It's hard to imagine a more perfect evening for Tony:
- Spurs win.
- He played an awesome game.
- He broke Avery's passing record.
- He broke this record with an assist to Timmy.
TP is having a great year, he fully deserves to be an all star and he is, by far, the main reason why Spurs have a good record this year. Huge props to him.
Safe to say, Parker is carrying the Spurs the way he did last season for long periods after the All Star Game.
+ 1000
Obviously Parker is having an issue with potentially no Spur player at the ASG. Timing and opponent were perfect for this little reminder
Someone should have reminded him of his ASG snub last year against the Grizzlies.Obviously Parker is having an issue with potentially no Spur player at the ASG. Timing and opponent were perfect for this little reminder
He's not Manu.
Tony's obvious emotional instability from game to game is echoed by the well-known equivalent in French pro tennis players, esp Yannick Noah et Henri Leconte, who were famously unbeatable when they got fired up, but fizzled most of the time in the face of less emotional "anglo-saxon" disciplined players. I guess it's a French thing.
Watching Tony's face in the first quarter for bemused detachment, disinterestedness, or focused intensity is a pretty good predictor of the game's outcome.
Tony Parker's jersey will be proudly hanging from the rafters when he retires! It will be a well deserved honor, as will his HOF induction. Thanks Tony!!
FixedIt's hard to imagine a more perfect evening for Tony:
- Spurs win.
- He played an awesome game.
- He broke Avery's passing record.
- He broke this record with an assist to Timmy.
- He helped his chances of being named an All-Star by crominating the alleged second best point guard in the West.
TP is having a great year, he fully deserves to be an all star and he is, by far, the main reason why Spurs have a good record this year. Huge props to him.
I'm not sure what more anyone could want out of Parker right now. He supposedly wasn't a good enough playmaker, but that can't be argued any longer.
Ast+ Per 40 Minutes
1. Steve Nash - 14.0
2. Rajon Rondo - 11.8
3. Ricky Rubio - 11.8
4. Chris Paul - 11.3
5. Jose Calderon - 11.1
6. Deron Williams 11.0
7. Tony Parker - 10.6
8. Andre Miller - 10.5
9. Kyle Lowry - 10.0
10. Ramon Sessions - 9.6
And that ranking doesn't even do TP justice since he doesn't get the bundles of easy assists a player like Rondo gets simply by passing to Ray Allen or Paul Pierce after they run off a series of screens. Plus the PGs above him don't play in a motion offense that runs a lot of the plays through the bigs. When it comes to legitimately creating shots for teammates via pick-and-roll sets or penetration-and-kick, TP is easily top five this season.
If you look at the bigger picture, it's pretty darn impressive what TP is doing. With Ginobili out, the two best players next to TP are averaging 27 minutes and 21 minutes per game (Duncan and Splitter, respectively). You could make a good case that no one else on the team is an above average NBA player. Yet, the Spurs have been able to go 13-7 with Ginobili on the sidelines even though they have played the league's fourth hardest schedule to date.
Parker definitely has his faults, which mostly have to do with him not having the stamina to go 100% all game, every game. On top of that, his shot is ugly, he can't jump, he's not overly strong, he's not a good passer on fast breaks, his defensive intensity comes and goes, etc. But at the end of it all, Parker is a winner. No one would spend money to watch Parker play basketball, but if the goal is to win games, there aren't many point guards I'd want before Parker.
Spoiled Spurs fans can dream about the beauty of watching someone like Nash. Yeah, it'd be fun to see Nash zip one-handed passes and run perfect fast breaks ... but the Spurs wouldn't have more Ws in the win column. Nash, with a relatively similar supporting cast, has led the Suns to a 9-14 record despite playing the league's fifth easiest schedule.
Unfortunately, Parker is the type of player most fans won't miss until he's gone. Duncan has been the foundation of everything. Ginobili has been the heart, soul and creativity. But Parker has always been the piece of the puzzle that the opposition first has to figure out how to slow down or else his ability to break down a defense will beat you quicker than anything else ... Duncan and Ginobili included. It's fair to say that Duncan and Ginobili are better at basketball than Parker but when it comes to winning, Parker is right there alongside those two.
The French Rugby National Team says '' o''
I wouldn't say it's "emotional" in the same way as French tennis players folding in the 5th set, or (despite what Romain says) the French rugby laying an egg after an all-time performance.
After 10 seasons in the league it's quite obvious Tony is bored to death by the regular season, except a few special games like yesterday night where I guess he got a bit pissed off at pundits saying Westbrook was an automatic selection as All-Star reserve and one of the best PGs in the league (when even a classy guy like Durant is fed up by how dumb and selfish Westbrook is).
That's unfair, Nash doesn't have a similar supporting cast nor the coach/system that Parker has. This is not the first time the Spurs do well when a member of the big three is injured. That's because of Pop, I hate him sometimes for some of his decisions but I know that his system and discipline is a big part of what makes this team so good, that's why I expected the Spurs to do well without Manu.
Would have Tony lead those D'antoni coached Suns to those 60 wins seasons?
I'm not hating on Tony, I have always thought that he was an underrated star because of playing under Duncan's shadow his whole career and I never understood the crazy criticism he gets here but you were beign unfair with Nash there.
Can I quote this in other threads?
Today's TP next to Amare Stoudemire in his prime, Shawn Marion in his prime, Quentin Richardson in his prime, a budding Joe Johnson and Barbosa off the bench would definitely do some damage. If not 60 wins, pretty darn close.
And even if Parker can't live up to MVP Steve Nash, that's not anything to be upset about. Nash is a first ballot Hall of Famer. I'm not even sure Parker is a Hall of Famer at all even adding in his international play, but he's pretty damn good.
Looking back on it, we know the 2005 Spurs who defeated Nash's dream team were championship caliber with Parker at PG. Would they have been a championship team with Nash at point guard? My first reaction is to say Yes ... but then I remember how that team relied defense and on Manu being able to take over games late. With that Nash, you don't get the defense and Manu becomes a spectator late in games. Thus, I'm not sure if the Spurs win a championship if you swap TP and Nash. You'd have to be convinced that Nash's greatness would overcome a drop in defense and removing most of Manu's magic from the equation.
Nash wouldn't have dominated the ball as much as he did in Phoenix under Pop. Either way, if Manu wouldn't have gotten the ball at the end of games is because Nash would have done a good job at it, so no matter what you're good.
I don't know about you but I would feel very comfortable having the MVP of that season and arguably the greatest shooter of all-time.
Timvp, what do you think happened to him against Memphis? If he played ala FMVP 07, then does SA get to play OKC in the hypothetical situation? Was it just ST wanting too much, or did he come up short?... because that was the only thing that's left a bad taste in my mouth from Tony... last night's game cleaned my palette though.
After a slow start to the season when TP looked tired and out of sorts, he got his legs about 20 games ago and has been mostly excellent since. Right now he's in 2007 form, and it's superb to watch. Props.
He's also been a weak link as the Grizzlies reminded us last year. Also in 2003 Finals, 2004 second round.
The Spurs haven't really had a pg that can consistently hit 3's. With Nash when teams were doubling Duncan Nash would have been hitting that shot.
Because a 20y old sop re from France starting at PG was the "weak link" in the 2003 Finals the Spurs won and where he averaged 14, 4.2 and 3.5 playing opposite the best PG at the time. Yeah right...
Nash has always been a defensive liability.
I think that Parker has always been under-appreciated in San Antonio. Some of that is because he is a natural scorer in an offense has been dominated by a PF/C offensive preference. He took a beating from Pop in the early days that would have destroyed a lot of men (and did destroy some of them who couldn't take it).
Pop's focus on Duncan as the centerpiece of the offense every year he has been here has meant that any number of players might have looked better for their own stats in another offense. Parker is one of them. The team was built to support Duncan's game. Manu is allowed (encouraged even) to create plays for himself. Parker does not have that option normally. He has to run Pop's offense...whatever it is that night. And we all know how Pop's offense suffers when anyone OTHER than Parker is running the offense.
Parker's apg would be much higher is he hadn't been in an offense that ran through the PF. Parker's ppg would be much higher if he had been in an offense that allowed him the leeway to do it.
Parker looks bored during some of the games when he has virtually nothing to do but 'geev thee boll to teemy'. Lots of people over the years have said that the spurs' played a boring game. Why should anyone be surprised that the point guard for that offense noticed?
Parker has taken no end of from Pop over the years. He has done EXACTLY what Pop has asked him...that includes denying his own preference for his own game.
Pop TOLD him to shoot at least 25 times against OK. If it hadn't been public knowledge that Pop told him that or that Pop screamed at him at the first time out because he wasn't shooting enough, how many people would have been screaming that Parker was 'selfish' and a 'ball hog'?
Why does anyone here imagine that anything happens that Pop doesn't want to happen?
Parker has NEVER complained about not being the focus of the offense. He has never complained about being used in a way that maximizes other people's stats over his own.
He has, to me, always shown himself to be the consummate TEAM player.
I would like to see once when TP could get a compliment from some of you guys without that compliment being accompanied by a list of complaints about him at the same time.
Just once.
Yeah, just make sure you quote the rest of it.Can I quote this in other threads?
Yeah, just make sure you quote the rest of it.
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